Congresswoman Matsui Praises Passage of Bill to Increase Pipeline of Math and Science Teachers
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Congresswoman Doris O. Matsui praised House passage of the 10,000 Teachers, 10 Million Minds Science and Math Scholarship Act (H.R. 362). The bill, which passed 389 to 22, aims to create up to 10,000 new K-12 science and math teachers each year, addressing the Nation’s shortage of qualified educators to teach in these fields.
“In the House, we are committed to developing the Nation’s workforce so America can maintain its leadership in the global economy,” said Congresswoman Matsui. “This legislation will lay the foundation to ensure that we have the pipeline of scientists, mathematicians, and engineers that we will need in the 21st century.”
The bill, authored by Science and Technology Committee Chairman Bart Gordon (D-TN) and co-sponsored by Congresswoman Matsui, enacts the foremost recommendation of the National Academies’ report Rising Above the Gathering Storm: improve K-12 math and science education. That 2005 report was issued by a distinguished spectrum of national leaders in academia, industry and government. Their findings were alarming. Essentially, they noted that without immediate action, the U.S. may not be able to maintain its role as the world’s leader in innovation and education.
“This bill addresses an urgent need that schools, businesses and other organizations in Sacramento are really focused on right now,” continued Congresswoman Matsui. “Whether you are talking about strengthening our levees or developing Sacramento as a center of clean energy technology, we need qualified scientists and engineers to grow our economy and keep our families safe. There are strong regional partnerships already moving forward to improve science and math education. The legislation passed by the House will serve to bolster and support those timely efforts.”
H.R. 362 will:
Create thousands of new teachers — with content and pedagogical expertise in their area of teaching — via the Noyce scholarship program at the National Science Foundation (NSF).
Create summer institutes and graduate programs that provide sustained, content-oriented professional development to teachers through Math Science Partnerships at NSF.
Create centers for improvement of undergraduate education in technical fields via the STEM Talent Expansion Program (STEP) program at NSF.
H.R. 362 contains language that Congresswoman Matsui introduced as an amendment to a similar bill that the Science Committee approved last year. Her provision directs the National Science Foundation to report back to Congress on whether scholarship recipients remain in the teaching profession beyond the service commitment required by the legislation.
“Essentially, this provision tells NSF to find out how many scholarship recipients choose to devote their professional career to teaching.” said Matsui “This will ensure that we get good return on this strategic investment in math and science education.”
H.R. 362 has been endorsed by a broad range of businesses and universities as well as industry and education groups, including the Business Roundtable, Association of American Universities, Council on Competitiveness, the College Board, Semiconductor Industry Association and the Business Software Alliance.
